The First Tycoon: The Epic Life of Cornelius Vanderbilt by T.J. Stiles: Masterful and enthralling. Vanderbilt in a nutshell, by a contemporary: “The Commodore’s word is as good as his bond when it is fairly given. He is equally exact in fulfilling his threats.”
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“Ya’ comin?”
The little ones that don’t look quite red are ‘Sungolds,’ which aren’t supposed to be red, but yellow. (Just sayin’.)
Annie Dillard: “We’ve been on earth all these years and we still don’t know for certain why birds sing… We have been as usual asking the wrong question… The real and proper question is: Why is it beautiful?”
Around here, pre-July 4th is prime homegrown tomato time. (Beat the heat and the squirrels.) Open-faced toasted sourdough rubbed with garlic and topped with tomatoes, sardines, red onion, basil, a squeeze of lemon, salt & pepper: Boy, oh boy!
I started making ths BLT a bit less than six months ago. (At least the “T”.)
A thesis: “When considering faith, it’s helpful to ask, ‘Is this right?’ or ‘Is this good?,’ as a way to discover ‘Is this true?’” (None of this is new; but it’s stuff I like to work out in writing.)
Consider this analogy: When we think about entering into a relationship, say a marriage (but it could be a friendship or even, taking a job at a company), we don’t ask, “Is this step true?” We ask, “Could this step be good? Could this be right?”* And we only discover the answer after we’ve (1) committed to the relationship and (2) lived out that commitment over time. (See Leslie Newbigin’s reading of Michael Polyani for more.)
This knowledge of the goodness or rightness of a relationship through lived experience would typically be seen as subjective knowledge. But, turning now to faith, let’s not discount experience. If a lot of other people, living over the course of centuries and in a range of families, countries, and cultures, also experience that the relationship with God is good and right, doesn’t that suggest the goodness or rightness are reliable, even if they’re known subjectively? (Is that one reason why Christians live their faith in community, in a “cloud of witnesses”?)*
Moreover, even in a one-to-one relationship, such as a marriage, i.e., Megan’s and my marriage, I am pretty confident in knowing that our marriage is good, though it sounds weird(ish) to say, “Our marriage is true.” And like a marriage, our experience of faith probably changes over time (and, one hopes, grows). It’s not static.
Jesus says, “I am the way, the truth, and the life,” so truth is crucial. But, because the modern era tends to subject truth claims to the scientific method (or something like it), I think formulating faith in terms of what’s good and right is an important way we discover what’s true.
By “good” and “right,” I mean not only “good for me”, but also, “fit, apt, appropriate, etc.” for a purpose (which requires knowing the purpose), and also “imbued with an inherent goodness and rightness” that transcends my personal benefit and, even, the aptness for a purpose.
Of course, other faiths can make the same claim, so this isn’t a support for Christianity, per se; it’s just an argument for shared experience being some evidence of a possible truth.
Listening to “Bridge Over Troubled Water.” It’s been approximately 54 years since the first time I heard it in my bedroom in a house that, as of last week, no longer exists.
